The basics of protecting yourself from Coronavirus

Most of my blogs so far have been focusing on warning of the dire consequences we could suffer if the spread of Coronavirus COVID-19 spreads above the capacity of US hospitals and health care network.

Now that the seriousness is well understood, and most states are in lockdown and businesses working from home, it’s time to turn to more practical but equally important aspects — what can we do to protect ourselves from COVID-19.

Here are some of the basics we all can start doing immediately that will reduce your risk of contracting COVID-19, and by extension, those around you, and the entire society:

Social distancing

• It is working. Italy’s rate of daily increase has been dropping steadily from 15% or more to less than 6% as of the past few days. For comparison, the current US rate is 20% to 25%.
• The importance of social distancing cannot be overstated. There will be a lot on that in this and in upcoming articles.

Cleaning surfaces

• Clean all surfaces you touch frequently (door handles, knobs, tables, kitchen tops, windows) with bleach — diluted 10% bleach, 90% water
• If you don’t have bleach, buy some (I am 45 years old, and I just bought my first bottle of bleach 4 weeks ago)
• More on cleaning: CDC guidance (including recommended EPA-registered household disinfectants), also this article

Shoes and floors

• Stop walking inside with shoes from outside
• Take your shoes as soon as you come inside the door, step away from them and not on the surface your shoe soles touched
• Wipe the floor (if wood, vinyl, or other fabric surfaces) with the same diluted bleach

Venturing outside of home

• Go out as little as you can
• If you need to go out, put a mask and gloves (more on that below)
• Try to stay 2 yards/meters away from other people. If you can’t, try for at least 1 yard/meter distance. If even that is not possible, avoid the area or move to the other sidewalk — they’ll understand and thank you for it

Inviting over “safe” friends

• We all have the friends who we feel are totally safe, nothing ever happens to them, they certainly can’t be infected. Should we invite them for dinner? Nope. Avoid any and all in-person meetings that you can avoid. You can still grab that beer together over Skype, Zoom, or Facetime.

Groceries

• Visit the stores less frequently, perhaps once every two weeks. If you run out of the almond milk, don’t rush to the store to buy it — put it on your list for the next planned restocking, and drink the regular milk until then.
• As soon as you bring the bags in, wash everything with soap, throw away the bags, wash your hands

Shopping

• Other than food, chances are you can survive the next 3 months without buying a single item from a store. Try it.

Online shopping

• When that Amazon package arrives, put some of the gloves, bring it back home, and ideally leave the package alone for a few days before you open it (apparently the virus stays alive on carton for almost 4 days — per NEJM). Then, open the package right next to the door, and throw the carton out, and wash hands.

The gear you will need

• Gloves — buy yourself some hand gloves, spray bottles for the bleach or rubbing alcohol, and a dozen or so kitchen towels. Watch a video or two online on how to put them on and remove (e.g. this)
• Rubbing alcohol above 70% — while it may be hard to find it in pharmacies, just ask the store clerk when the next delivery will be, and go during those times. Same applies for gloves.
• Hand sanitizer — same as for gloves and rubbing alcohol
• Bleach — should be readily available in the major grocery store chains
• Face masks — while it’s next to impossible to find N95 masks in the US these days, KN95 masks (the Chinese equivalent to N95) can be readily found on Amazon for a price that seems reasonable given the current circumstances
• Soap — lots of it, you will be washing or sanitizing your hands a few dozen times these days — and certainly after you’ve touched anything that has been outside or you have not cleaned yourself
• Hand cream — given how frequently you will be washing your hands, the skin on your hands will dry up. So, treat them well, and apply some hand cream daily.

I hope this is a good list for now. Do come back from time to time to check for updates here.

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